tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1658138279766595241.post371628192391433081..comments2024-01-04T04:31:00.481-05:00Comments on Mixed Race America: Locals vs. TouristsJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13261371053113519712noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1658138279766595241.post-13873175989811704152008-02-27T10:38:00.000-05:002008-02-27T10:38:00.000-05:00Susan,Thanks for your comment--I do think that the...Susan,<BR/>Thanks for your comment--I do think that there is something elusive about Jamaica, and I've been trying to puzzle out the racial aspects of it from the class and national aspects. There were times when I did feel completely "at home" in Jamaica, but those were the times with my family--their own comfort and familiarity and literal family in Jamaica made it possible for me to see parts of the island that tourists or non-Jamaicans don't see.<BR/><BR/>I think part of it has to do with access and familiarity. I wonder if you had been able to live for 3 months or so in Kingston or New Kingston and to have friends who were born and raised in Jamaica take you around Kingston, whether your own sense of the place would be changed. <BR/><BR/>Which also leads me to wonder how much any of us ever get to know a place when we are there only briefly. I mean, I spent 3 weeks in Greece and a week in Turkey, but I stayed in Athens and Lesvos in tourist areas, so the degree to which I got to know Greece, at all, is completely mediated by this "vacation" aspect--as for Turkey, I got to know part of Istanbul, but certainly that's such a small sliver of the rest of the country. And even had I toured the entire land, I am an American tourist so, like your experience in Jamaica, I don't know how possible it would have been for me to feel like I was part of the people there. I guess what I'm saying is I wonder how many of us actually feel like we get to really know or really get into another country?Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13261371053113519712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1658138279766595241.post-27644116671962989362008-02-27T10:19:00.000-05:002008-02-27T10:19:00.000-05:00When I went to Jamaica (as a historian, doing rese...When I went to Jamaica (as a historian, doing research in Kingston and Spanish Town) I did go to Port Royal, but that's because I like to see the places I write about. But I've always found Jamaica a strange place -- there is a Jamaica that is very real (as you note) geared for tourists; but there's also another Jamaica -- where there are farms, businesses, schools, etc. and I felt as white American it was almost impossible to get to. The closest I came was going to church on a Sunday morning.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.com